But instead of skate boards and Barbie Dolls, the elves were puttng the final touches on Solar Eclipse Safety Packages that will enable 250K young people to view and learn from the rare celestial happening, which will occur on Aug. 21.

Teams of faculty, students, and staff crammed into the AE School's tiny conference room, where, from 8:30 a.m. until 7 p.m., 1,700 packages were assembled, addressed, and sealed. The complicated logistics were plotted out weeks ahead of time by Georgia Tech staffers Alysia Watson and Mike Roberts. Funded by NASA's Georgia Space Grant Consortium, the packages were mailed to schools and other educational venues where they will help make the solar eclipse as safe as it is cool.

And it will be cool. Very cool.

For a brief period of time in the afternoon of Aug. 21, the moon will be aligned directly between the sun and the earth, causing a temporary nightfall here on earth.  Birds will roost. Cattle will settle down for the night. And the temperature difference will cause winds to pick up. At Georgia Tech, where the coverage will be 97 percent complete, several solar eclipse activities have been planned for the campus, which will be in the middle of its first day of classes. (Nice planning, Mother Nature!)

Find out more about Tech's celebrations at Eclipse 2017 @ Georgia Tech.

For AE professor Stephen Ruffin, the eclipse will be an opportunity to spread the word about the importance of space exploration to thousands of would-be scientists. As the executive director of NASA's Georgia Space Grant Consortium, he knows that that a solar eclipse will heighten the public's interest in science, engineering, and the importance of committing resources to space exploration. As the associate chair of the School of Aerospace Engineering, he is grateful that he was able to nudge a few of his colleagues to help out with Thursday's mailroom extravaganza.

"We are grateful to NASA's Space Grant Consortium for making these kits available, and for making space education a priority," he said. "But getting them into the mail? That came directly from the heart and soul of Georgia Tech."

A collaboration between several Institute entities has produced an array of events and educational offerings for the August 21 eclipse. Check them out now.